The Reverend Kirk T. Berlenbach

Easter VI, Year A

May 4, 2008

Last week I was doing so research on a Bible website. As it was loading, one of the banner ads caught my eye. It read, “Have you written a Christian book?” Now in today’s market of desktop and micro batch publishing, this was not surprising thing to find. Still the ad got me to thinking… what exactly is a “Christian” book? I suppose what the ad intended was a book with a spiritual, theological or otherwise obviously religious focus. But here’s the question; if some books identify themselves as “Christian,” what does that say about all the other books?

It seems that the Name of Christ has become a label. Now sometimes that label serves a useful purpose in helping us distinguish between ideas and activities that promote our faith and those that don’t, but unfortunately that label can mean many different things. That’s because such a label is only a construct… something that we manufacture and therefore something that gets applied according to the subjective judgment of human beings. When we apply the Name of Christ to products, like books or music or art, it forces a division. This division produces two very broad categories of sacred and secular. As a result everything that does not bear the name Christian in its title is therefore not just secular, it is “un-Christian.” And as good Christians, it is all too easy to take the next logical step and begin assuming that unless the product bears the “Christian” label, it is something we are better off avoiding.

As a teen I really struggled with a lot this dichotomy, particularly when it came to music. I was taught that if I really wanted to grow in my relationship with G-D then I could only listen to “Christian” music. That meant that if the lyrics and mission of the band was not explicitly Christian, then it was something I should not be listening to. My zeal to purge such secular and unholy influences grew so intense that at one point I actually burned the better part of my collection of records and tapes in the back yard. And so it was that my vinyl copies of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” Dio’s “Holy Diver” and Queen’s, “The Game,” just to name a few, met their fiery end.

While my actions might seem a bit extreme, under the circumstances they were only natural. I was trying my best to be a good Christian and to purge those “un-Christian” influences from my life. And perhaps in your efforts to take your faith seriously, you have thought along similar lines. But in order to draw closer to Christ, you first need to screen out any “unholy” influences. And so our quest leads us to look for a clear and obvious sign to guide us… a sign of endorsement like the Good Housekeeping Seal or being Zagat rated. It is only natural that we would look for something equivalent in terms of a spiritual and moral rating. As a result we gravitate towards things that have “Christian” in their title… “Christian” books, “Christian” rock, “Christian” toys, even “Christian” video games.

Unfortunately having the word “Christian” in the title does not provide any guarantee of quality or even of content. Often what one finds is nothing more than an imitation of the secular equivalent. For example, there is a line of Biblical action figures available online. But when I looked them over what I found was that the “Sampson” action figure can hardly be distinguished from any He-Man or Pro-Wrestling action figure. Yet thousands upon thousands of well meaning Christian parents buy such things because they want to do the right thing for their kids. But in reality being based on a biblical character makes no difference in how most children are going to play with Sampson. They are going to use him in the same way they would any other action figure- to bash the other action figures on the head. I am hard pressed to see how Sampson is spiritually superior to using a GI Joe.

In some cases these imitations of the secular are so close to the original that they are indistinguishable from the originals, not just in style, but even in objectionable content. During my Christian rock phase I bought a tape by a band called “Vengeance.” In case you couldn’t guess from the band’s name, they were a thrash metal outfit. But their imitation of secular bands like “Slayer” did not stop at the music. It was also in their lyrics. I will spare you the “I just swallowed a lot of broken glass” singing style but in their song “Beheaded” the lyrics are, “I want my head chopped off. You’ll see my body rot. And then I’ll reign with Christ. And then you’ll fry.” While these lyrics may draw their inspiration from the bloodier parts of Bible, but in effect there is not much difference between them and the secular and satanic bands they are copying.

Here’s another example. The Left Behind books are wildly popular and have sold tens of millions of copies. A few years ago, hoping to cash in on the popularity, the writers authorized a video game version. Set in the time of the apocalypse one goes around fighting off the forces of evil and trying to convert unbelievers before it is too late. OK, that’s not too bad. However, if an unbeliever refuses to convert, the player then has the option of killing them. I’m sure some parents bought this game for their kids believing it was a more Christian alternative to secular games like “Grand Theft Auto.” But mowing someone down with a machine gun is mowing someone down with a machine gun and to my mind, it doesn’t really matter whether it is part of a drug war or whether it is being done in the name of Jesus.

We live in a crazy world. So much of what we see and hear is destructive, greedy and opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only natural to want to find things that will benefit our faith. This is especially true for those of us who are parents and who want to screen what are kids are reading, watching or listening to. As a result, it is all too easy to fall into the notion that if we avoid secular products and buy only Christian ones instead then we are somehow guaranteed healthier influences and better moral quality. But the sad truth is that when it comes to what we buy the name of Christ is only a label… a marketing strategy… a brand name to get us to buy what they have to sell.

While it is easy for us to understand and perhaps even appreciate the logic that stands behind the “Christian” only approach, we can see that in reality it is deeply flawed. Not only does it fail to provide any sort of guarantee, it also creates a false dichotomy by assuming that G-D can be found only through those products and ideas that label themselves as Christian. As a teen it took me a few years to sort through all this but I eventually figured this out. You see, after the burning I started buying mostly “Christian” rock to replenish my collection. But after a few years of this I find myself drawn more and more back to the secular music I had tried to rid myself of. There is a very simple reason for this. The truth was that most of the Christian albums I bought weren’t very good. Now there were notable exceptions to be sure, people who had real talent and who wrote and played really original and creative music. But after a while I realized that the majority of the bands I was listening to were often nothing more than outright rip offs of secular bands. And so I went back to buying “secular” music. As it turns out, this shift in my listening habits did not hinder my spiritual development. It broadened my musical horizons and even though it was not explicitly about G-D, I could still find the sacred in it.

We don’t need these labels. What we read or watch or listen to does not make us holy, neither can it make us unholy. Jesus himself said, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.” (Mr 7:15, cf Mt 15:20). G-D doesn’t care what we watch or read or listen to, what matters to G-D is how we behave. So if something brings us closer to G-D then it is good for us and if it leads us away from G-D then it is not. Don’t buy something just because it appears to be “Christian.” By the same token, don’t avoid something just because it lacks that “Christian” seal of approval. Instead make your decisions based on whether or not you like it. Not everything will appeal to your tastes and not everything will help you draw closer to G-D. But that doesn’t mean we should avoid exploring new things and wrestling with new ideas. If you want to know what you like… if you want to know what can benefit you spiritually, there is only one way to know, and that is by sampling whatever we are drawn to.

The First Letter of John (4:1) instructs us to “test the spirit” in order that we might then discern whether or not it is from G-D. That means we cannot rely on someone else to do the work for us. G-D gave us minds in order that we might use them. G-D gave us creativity in order that we might express ourselves through arts and ideas. Finally, G-D gave us a sense of aesthetic taste in order that we might discern what we like and what we don’t. To be sure, a diet of only “Christian” books, music and movies might be safe, but it can also be rather bland and unchallenging. There is so much more to see and explore. Jesus became human and shared our existence in order to redeem and sanctify all of life. There are so many more ways, beyond just what is explicitly Christian, for us to encounter and learn about G-D. Every aspect of life, every experience, every idea and every note of music is an opportunity to experience the Holy. And as a result we can find the sacred in not just in those things that call themselves sacred but also in the ordinary and sometimes, even in what appears to be profane. The bottom line is this… If we want to encounter G-D in all the wonderful variety and beauty that is really out there, we have to be willing to look, and search and to test the spirits and ultimately to decide for ourselves.